Steven
"I just... really like you a lot, Elizabeth." |
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Elizabeth
"Hey Steven! Why don't you go fuck yourself!" |
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I wasn't too surprised to hear about Steven's parents breaking up – That sort of thing happened all the time, and it was his dad's second marriage. What did surprise me is when his dad married my mom, making her the respectably successful sci-fi author Angela Parker-Patton, and I became Steven Parker's step-sister. "Do you want to change your name as well?" my mother asked. "You can be Elizabeth Parker-Patton, or just Elizabeth Parker." "No I don't want to change my fucking name!" I yelled, tossing the blender at Steven's dad, who stood there grinning moronically until it hit him square in the face and sent him to the floor. That's the other thing I forget to mention: he and Steven had moved into our house. "Elizabeth!" my mom cried. "Watch your language!" She bent down to help Bob, that's his name, and I stormed off. I couldn't fucking believe these people. What were they doing in my house? I stomped upstairs, pulling a picture from the wall and tossing it down the hallway, smashing it into a thousand pieces. Only one thing would be able to calm me down now: I needed a movie. So I went to my tv room on the second floor; I chose it because it had no windows, and I had taken out all the lightbulbs. From the glow of the television I picked a film from my collection and slid it into the vcr. I made sure the door was closed and sat in my chair, starting to relax as I watched the screen. A good old high school drama... awesome looking boy, gorgeous girl... a beautiful romance, painful misunderstandings, but everything would be resolved at the prom finale... I smiled while I let myself live inside the movie for a while, the minutes stretching into an hour, helping me forget my situation, letting it all drift away... I heard the door creak open and my teeth began to grind almost subconsciously. I was in no mood to talk to my mother, and I knew "Bob" wouldn't dare face me alone. But I didn't turn to see who it was, I just stayed focused on the screen. "What are you watching?" I heard a voice say, and clenched my fists. Steven. "A movie," I said through my firmly pressed together teeth. He was quiet a little while longer, then asked, "What's happening in it?" I turned to him. "Could you please shut the fuck up? I'm trying to watch this." "Okay." He stayed standing next to my chair, his hands in his pockets, watching the screen. I tried to pay attention to the movie, I tried to put on some mental blinders, I tried to ignore him, but I couldn't. I could feel him there, sucking all the enjoyment out of the room, making the whole world seem like a big annoying mess... "Look, I know you're upset about the wedding," he said. "But I really think it would be best if we-" "Shut up!" I yelled, jumping to my feet and turning toward him. "Just shut the fuck up. I've been watching this movie for an hour and ten minutes, I've been giving it all my attention, it's almost over and you're fucking ruining it. What makes you think I care what you have to say?" I asked, advancing on him slightly, causing him to back away. "Don't you care that I'm busy? Don't you understand that I care about this movie more than I'll ever care about you? Don't you care about my fucking privacy? Fuck you!" I shoved him against the door, and by the dim glow of the tv I saw him raise his hands to his head as I started to hit him, bringing my fists down on his face as hard as I could, not stopping until I could feel them getting wet with blood. "Okay?!" I screamed at him. "Do you fucking understand? Now leave me alone!" I opened the door and watched him crawl out into the light of the hallway, slamming it closed once on his ankle before he finally escaped. I locked the door behind him and went to the tv, kneeling down in front of it as I wiped some tears from my face. I tried to return my focus to the movie, but it was too late. I'd lost it. I turned off the television and laid down on the floor, drawing my knees up against my chest. From the corner of my eye I could see the red power light of the vcr, still on. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my breathing, wishing that I could fall asleep. |
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